The take-home energy drink market remains heavily skewed towards brands, which accounted for 91.4% of value sales and 88.4% of volumes sold last year.

In contrast to the soft drinks market, whichhas seen some inflation, average prices of energy drinks dropped 2.7% (£0.03). 

While brands dropped average prices 3.2%, the cost of own label products rose 7.3%. Despite this, branded energy drinks still cost on average a third more than own label.

Sales of diet offerings are flying, having been promoted more than regular energy drinks over the past year in anticipation of the sugar tax.

Retailers moved away from volume deal promotions in favour of temporary price reductions this year, leading to price decreases. As a result, shoppers bought fewer energy drinks per trip.

The big four had varied results this year. Sainsbury’s and Morrisons boosted value sales 10.8% and 5.1% respectively. Tesco’s sales dropped 13.4% and Asda’s were down 9.3%.

Kantar

Encompassing till sales from UK convenience stores and supermarkets, IRI’s top 10 energy drink brands have largely had a positive year, with one notable exception.

The introduction of a new, reformulated recipe led to dramatic value sales losses for Lucozade Energy. As the only brand in the top 10 with decreased value sales in the year leading up to the sugar tax, Lucozade Energy also lost its position as bestselling energy drink brand.

Red Bull swiped the top spot from Lucozade this year with an extra £20.5m in value sales across its full-sugar range, proving that not all consumers are switching to diet variants of their favourite energy drink.

Similarly, Monster Energy managed an impressive growth of 15%, spurred by a focus on adding “much-needed variety to the previously limited flavour options available in the energy sector”, including new launches Monster Mango Loco and Monster Pipeline Punch.

While Monster Energy brought home the big bucks, it was its low-calorie range that achieved the fastest growth this year across the top 10 energy drink brands, with new launch Monster Ultra Violet in February contributing to an extra £5m in value sales.
Red Bull’s low-calorie range also enjoyed strong growth over the past year, driven by new launches and a nationwide awareness campaign, adding a further £3.9m to the brand’s profits this year.

Ebiquity 

Keen to get back on track following last year’s reformulation and resulting sales dip, Lucozade is set to increase marketing spend by 20% or more across all brands in 2018. Lucozade Energy has spent £10m on its ‘Energy Beats Everything’ campaign, while Lucozade Sport’s £5m ‘Made to Move’ features brand ambassadors Anthony Joshua (right) and Harry Kane.

Red Bull kicked off a multimedia campaign for its 250ml sugar-free range in January, spanning ads on buses, online and social. 

Boost is launching its biggest marketing push to date this month. The ‘Never Miss a Beat’ campaign will include﷯ the brand’s first TV appearance.